Voices

Bylined opinion and news columns published by United Hebrew Congregation Terre Haute.

For 49 days, we’ve counted the Omer and examined our spiritual selves. Happy Shavuot!

By Rabbi Jennifer Lewis
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Starting on the second night of Passover, we began the period of the Counting of the Omer, which in Jewish tradition helps us with spiritual preparation for our next festival, Shavuot (when we celebrate Moses’s receiving the Law at Mount Sinai). This period represents the time between our liberation from slavery and our formation as a people in covenant with God. We count the Omer during the seven weeks (49 days) between Passover and Shavuot.

There are several customs associated with the Omer period. One of these is studying Pirke Avot (Portions of Our Fathers, which is a book contained in the Mishneh, part of Jewish oral tradition).

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The Passover seder dinner means matzoh, wine, bitter herbs and the miracle of the shared meal

By Scott Skillman
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This year our Passover seder will be celebrated on Saturday, April 12, starting at 6 p.m. We will be led by our rabbi, Jennifer Lewis, and we will have a full seder meal. We will drink the wine; we will break the matzot and eat the bitter herbs.

We will celebrate while reclining (at least symbolically) the Exodus from Egypt and the miracles performed at that time, at that place. Those miracles are well retold in the seder, and the awesomeness of the Lord will be recounted.

But there is another miracle that arises from the seder that is not often considered. The miracle that I wish for us to consider is the sharing of a meal within our small community and, often, with the larger community. The miracle I speak of is the shared meal. The sharing of a meal has great power for all who attend.

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Passover represents a period of change. As Rabbi Nachman said, approach it without fear

By Rabbi Jennifer Lewis
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As we prepare to celebrate Passover together, beginning the evening of Saturday, April 12, we also note the start of the Hebrew month of Nisan. The trees and flowers are finally blooming in Terre Haute (and Cincinnati)! The Festival of Freedom will soon be upon us.

And yet, the transitional period from Winter to Spring, beautiful as it may be, comes with its challenges. Allergy season is here, for one! But seriously, as Winter fades and Summer is on the horizon, I am reminded of the wisdom of Rabbi Nachman of Brazlov : “The world is a narrow bridge; the most important thing is not to fear at all.”

Our tradition celebrates our journey from enslavement to freedom, also a time of great uncertainty. Moving from any profound period of change—from stability to uncertainty—can be frightening. This is true whether that change is economic, political, social, personal or spiritual.

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Truth for our time: Trust sound reasoning — that feeling in your gut might just be gas

By Scott Skillman
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It is generally agreed that truth is a good thing to pursue.

Truth is used to provide rationale for policy. Arguably, truth is the basis for laws, governance, and general rules for everything from corporate policies to Temple by-laws.

Mark Twain popularized the quote, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” This rather obviously warns that facts and statistics can be used to push for actions that are not virtuous, but preferred. In more modern times, the concept of “truthiness” has been used to describe the distinction between facts as they are versus facts as we want them to be.

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